My new slow feeder

[LittleRibbie]

I know someone asked about slow feeders and I thought I might share what I have done as an experiment. From past barn projects I had a couple pieces of the green plastic lattice that I had not used. One was about 2 ft x 2 ft. Took an old piece of plywood and cut to the same size and drilled corrasponding holes in both...I think there are 6 holes per side and bottom except for the top. Layed them on top of one another and used zip ties to attach the lattice to the plywood on the 2 sides and bottom. Now I was left with sort of a big "pouch" The lattice is flexible enough to put a fair amount of hay in through the top and push it down......I want to add that this is where I noticed a possible flaw in my plan....the cut plastic lattice was sharp...so I took it apart and had my husband heat with the blow torch all the cut edges on the lattice, he rounded and smoothed them all and I put it back together and just put a couple more zip ties through the top. This is sort of a waste as I do have to cut the zip ties every time I fill it so I do use baling twine now just on the top. I just use it in my grooming area and it just hangs flat on the wall and the horses can nibble right through the lattice.

So far it works great.....and it was almost free. Store bought hay pouches/bags are definitly easier but they can get expensive too if you need alot of them. This was sort of a fun little project and easy to do. I wish I could think of a way to use the whole piece of lattice ( 2x4 I think ) and make a couple long ones for the pasture so a few horses can eat from each one and perhaps put them between a couple posts....only problem is Im from the old school and would prefer to have horses eating low to the ground and if I lay it flat on the ground...my luck...horses will get hoof caught.Need to do some more thinking I guess!!

Another great idea ( at least for me ) was to put a fairly good size spring attached to the feed/storage room door. Because of how my barn is set up, the horses all have access to it and are able to wiggle the door right open unless I lock it each time I go in and out and its a pain to keep locking it when I am working around there. Now the door closes automatically and the horses cant ( and they sure have tried )to wiggle their little noses in to get the door open. Its just a simple little safety thing that works but I still obviously lock the door when Im not right out there working. It might be a good idea for people with young children that like to help do barn chores and may forget to close certain doors.

Well that it for my public service announcement and ideas!! Anyone else have any inventions that we need to know about...please share!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

We built feeders similar to those you made using store shelving that is a heavy metal mesh (each piece of the mesh is about 1/4" around) we used adelle clips to fasten it to the bottom of a piece of plywood attached to the shelter wall. Rubber bungies cut in half are use to hold the top closed. They stretch out to accommodate the hay when its filled and spring back tight to hold the mesh to the shelter wall when the hay is gone. There are a few things I'm not entirely happy with (bungies loose some of their elasticity in the cold) but it slows down my fatties so the small ration of hay they get is spread over a greater length of time. Its been great for taking weight off with out risking ulcers from long times with no food. Sorry I know I didn't explain it very well but I can't post pictures (can't load on my computer at present)

 

[aBreeze]

Thank you so much for sharing your idea's with me! I am the one that is pestering everyone to fix my problem.

Is there any way you can get pictures? I think I get it, but visuals would really make it come alive!